WASHINGTON DC - The preliminary memorandum of understanding between the United States and Iran to halt hostilities and reopen the Strait of Hormuz will be based on a strict pay-for-performance framework, senior US officials told reporters, including Rudaw, in a Wednesday background briefing, emphasizing that all economic relief to Tehran will be strictly conditioned on verifiable Iranian compliance.
Officials noted that the agreement was made possible because the administration bypassed traditional diplomatic channels to establish high-level, unmediated contacts within the Iranian establishment.
One senior official noted that the memorandum transforms the traditional dynamic between Washington and Tehran and provides “the structure for how our negotiation, our relationship will operate in the future,” explaining that “the basic way it works is the more the Iranians are willing to work with us on their nuclear program, on verifying that they are not building a nuclear weapon, and on not funding radicalism and terrorism in the region, the more they will be welcomed into the global economy through a combination of sanctions relief and other economic measures.”
“If they are willing to behave like a normal country, then we are willing to treat them like a normal country,” the same official said, adding that there is potential for “great prosperity for the people of Iran, the Gulf region, and the United States.”
Another senior US official detailed that discussions with the Iranian side included “the possibility of releasing frozen funds, sanctions relief… [and] a big $300 billion fund to rebuild their country,” all of which “are going to be tied to performance,” further warning that any deviation from the agreement would result in an immediate cutoff.
The breakthrough framework, which was digitally signed over the weekend, precedes an in-person formal signing ceremony scheduled for Friday in Switzerland and opens a 60-day window for intensive technical negotiations aimed at permanently dismantling Tehran's nuclear program.
The agreement comes months after the US and Israel launched a widescale aerial campaign against Iran on February 28, striking thousands of targets across the country during six weeks of hostilities.
In response, Tehran carried out thousands of drone and missile strikes across the Middle East targeting alleged US assets - particularly in Gulf Arab states - as well as launching retaliatory attacks against Israel.
The warring sides agreed to a Pakistan-mediated ceasefire on April 8, bringing an end to hostilities and paving the way for weeks of diplomatic negotiations.
Alongside these diplomatic efforts, Tehran and Washington undertook reciprocal maritime measures that saw Iran tighten its control over shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and the US impose a naval blockade on Iranian ports.
US officials on Wednesday noted that an “immediate” priority of the memorandum of understanding is restoring commerce through the Strait of Hormuz and lifting the US naval blockade on Iran.
Nonetheless, the same senior official anticipated that it will take “a little bit of time” for this to be achieved, as there are “mines in the Strait” and shipping crews require “a little bit more stability for the next couple of days, maybe the next couple of weeks,” though he added that “you will see a significant increase in traffic in the Strait of Hormuz.”
Moreover, the officials made clear that the preliminary agreement does not mean a sudden retreat of American power from the region, with the first official explaining that “the plan is to keep the current force posture during the succeeding negotiation process.”
As the understanding also establishes an immediate cessation of military operations on all fronts, including between the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement in Lebanon and Israel, the first official noted “a significant reduction in the amount of fire coming from Hezbollah toward Israel, and consequently from Israel into Lebanon, but it is not zero.”
He added that “there are going to be challenges inherent in transitioning from a position of conflict to a position of peace.”
The second official concurred that the US-Iran preliminary deal aims to achieve comprehensive regional peace, but explained that “if Iran is not able to control Hezbollah, and if they attack Israeli positions or Israeli towns, Israel will have the right to defend itself and respond.”
He thus added that “there's going to be the challenges inherent in transitioning from a position of conflict to a position of peace."
